Pictures of You
by esompthin
Summary: Based off a photo on tumblr. When Marshall suddenly stops visiting, Gumball gets worried. Sadness follows. Marball (Gumlee) rated for cussing in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Pictures of You

It's a dark and rainy night. The prince of Candy Kingdom is getting ready for bed, stripping himself of his royal gowns and slowly pulling on his large black t-shirt he likes to wear to sleep. All the lights in his kingdom are off. Everyone dreams quietly as the powerful storm rages on outside.

Gumball vaguely wonders if he'll see Marshall Lee tonight. The Vampire King had been visiting for the past few nights. He'd sit on Gumball's bed and the two royals would spend all night talking until either the sun came up, or Gumball fell asleep.

He lays down, facing his balcony window, and hopes for his king to visit him. Gumball's eyes slowly drift closed, as he waits for the tapping of slightly-sharp nails on glass to awake him, as usual.

Except tonight, there's no tapping.

Tonight, Gumball didn't wake until morning.

Tonight, Marshall Lee never showed up.

* * *

He shouldn't be worrying like his is. He really shouldn't. Marshall Lee is his own person- er, vampire, who's allowed to do his own things. If he didn't want to visit that night, that should be okay. But it's not okay.

Not to Gumball. His candy mind kept racing back to the last time he saw Marshall. Did he say something wrong? Did he hurt Marshall's feelings? Was he mad at him?

The prince can't focus on any of his work. He kept glancing out the windows, looking for any signs of the vampire.

There was none.

Gumball sighs in a very un-princely manner. Its only noon, and Gumball can't take it anymore. He has to know what's wrong with Marshall.

Although it goes against everything he's every really stood for, Gumball decides to sneak out. He writes an excuse on his desk:

_Fiona wanted me to come by and help her with the something. _

It's a very vague and pathetic excuse, he knows. But the prince is too busy focusing on Marshall to come up with another.

Without another thought, the prince snuck out of his own castle, and convinced Lord Monochromicorn to take him to the cave where Marshall lives.

Hopping off the unicorn, Prince Gumball slowly made his way to the house deep inside the darkness of the cave. Gumball had only been there once, when Marshall dragged him there.

Running a hand across the white-picket fence, the candy man laughed to himself a little. It's kind of cute that the outside of Marshall's home looks nothing like something from the Nightosphere.

Gumball confidently steps up on the front porch. And suddenly, his heart starts pounding. He's not sure if he can do this. He can just turn and run; Marshall will never know.

Gumball's mind stops working, as minds usually do when a person panics, and he thinks Marshall didn't show up on purpose last night.

_He hates me._

_He doesn't want to see me again._

_It's all my fault!_

_He's going to never speak to me!_

_This was a mistake to come here!_

Finally, Gumball closes his eyes, holds up his breath, and raises his hand to knock.

* * *

**I can't write in anything but past tense. ;-; anyway, the house i described is from Hootsweet's "I Never Said You Had To Be Perfect", which is brilliant but unfinished.**


	2. Chapter 2

Marshall wakes up to see it stormy and rainy. He grins to himself, he loves storms. It felt like today would be a good day. As he yawns and floats to the bathroom to prepare for the night. Once Marshall decides he looks good enough -which is extremely difficult considering he doesn't have a reflection- the vampire floats downstairs to grab a snack.

Just as he's about to suck the red out of a strawberry, he hears a_ very _familiar voice.

"Still not eating souls, I see."

The strawberry in his hand drops to the floor.

"You." Marshall turns to see his mother, smiling at him.

She mocks hurt, "I can't believe you would greet your mother that way! I'm shocked! Didn't I raise you better?"

Marshall nods towards the door, "Get out."

The Vampire Queen pouts, "Can't I visit my only son?"

"No. Get out."

Regardless, she roams around his house, ignoring his words. Marshall's dead heart drops when she glances at the ladder that leads to his room. "Oh? What do you have up here?"

"Nothing!" He shouts, rushing after his mother as she floats up to where his prized possessions are. He hopes she won't say anything, but she's always one to be critical of his hobbies.

She glances at the bass laying against a cluttered wall, "Honestly, no king of the Nightosphere should waist time with that."

"Yeah, you're right." Marshall says quickly. Hoping she'll leave if he agrees. "I'll stop playing it. You've twisted my arm. Please leave now."

She scoffs at him, "You're a horrible liar." She then turns back to the wall, looking closely at the pieces of paper hung there. "What's this?"

"Nothing." The younger vampire stepped forward to place his hand on his mother's shoulder, in an attempt to distract her.

"You keep saying tha-," Her eyes widen as she searches each of the papers. Yanking a few of them off the wall furiously, she growls, "I told you to get rid of these a hundred years ago!" she crumples the small papers, which actually are photos, and throws them on the ground.

Marshall glared at her, "Those belong to me! Stop it!" He jumps to the ground to pick up his precious photos. The Vampire Queen steps on his hand, causing him to look up at her.

"Listen to me, child, and listen well." She hissed, "You can't have these in your possession. They aren't good for you. Let. Them. Go."

Marshall began to cry, "I would…. But I can't. I think of them all the time, mom. I can't forget about them." He held the smashed photos close to his dead heart, "I miss them."

The Vampire Queen slowly kneels down next to her son, "I know. But that's part of being immortal. You can't dwell in the past." She forcefully rips the photos from his hands, "It's for the best."

Something in Marshall snaps. "No."

"Don't fight with me, boy."

Marshall grabs the crumpled photos back, "No. I will fight. Because these are mine. I love them. All of them. Don't you_ dare_ touch them ever again." He stands up, glaring down at his mother. "Or I swear to Glob, I'll fucking kill you."

Lightning flashed as his mother's glare meets his own.

"Kill me? And why would you do that?" She sounded smug, disbelieving, and only a little hurt. "I come to your home for a visit and suddenly I'm a villain?"

Marshall grabs his aluminum baseball bat, "You know what you've done. Get out. Now."

His mother's frown falters slightly, "Oh, Marshall, I don't want to hurt you."

The undead teen swings his bat and misses, "You already have! Leave my home! Go back to hell!" He swings the bat again and again, finally making contact with his mother's hip.

She growls at him, "Fine. But I'm telling you. Keeping pictures of your dead lovers will only make you depressed. I don't want you to look over at that wall and be sad. Do you understand? Please take them down, or I'll worry about you."

Marshall pulled his scariest face, his fangs grows, his claws sharpens, his eyes turns red, as he hisses, "I don't give a fuck what you want. Get the fuck out of my house you crazy bitch." The Vampire Queen hesitates, seeing as how Marshall was now crying. But as tears rolled down his face, as his sobs competed with the storm to be heard, she finally left.

Marshall crawled over to his wall, picking up the pictures that fell off. Only about four of them were smashed by the queen. The others are fine. They're safe.

The vampire sat with his back resting against the wall, his head hanging in his hands. With the photos of his lost ones around him; Marshall cries until his eyes close and don't open again.

* * *

**I'm pretty sure I got their relationship wrong, but oh well.**


	3. Chapter 3

When Marshall wakes up, it's light out. The sun forces its way past the clouds. Marshall groans, running his hands over his face.

"I slept through the night." He complains, "I didn't get to see Bubba…"

Slowly he stands up, glancing down at the photos by his feet. In an attempt to smooth them out, he places them under some books. Sighing, he picks up his bass, strumming a few notes. He thinks back to what his mother said. Suddenly it all seems too real.

He'll live forever. His lovers won't. Didn't. And never will.

After Ashley, Marshall told himself he'd never fall for anyone again. It hurt too badly. Even if he didn't have to watch them die, there were other things that would happen. It wasn't worth it to give his undead heart to someone who'll eventually leave him, one way or another.

Something moist falls on his hand. Looking down, Marshall realizes it's a tear. He's crying again. Furious, the vampire throws his bass on his bed before floating down the latter.

_I promised myself I wouldn't fall in love again._

Furiously he throws a plate across the room. It crashes in a pile of glass, landing on the floor. It felt good, but it wasn't enough. Marshall throws more things around the room, wrecking his home. Over and over, things break and crash to the floor.

Huffing and panting heavily, the vampire freezes as he hears a knock on his door. The vampire whips the rears from his face, slowly walking towards his door. As he does, his mind races, deciding that it's his mother on the other side. Fury grows in the undead man once again.

He pulls the door open forcefully, screeching, "I told you I never want to see you again!"

But it wasn't his mother.

The two stared at each other, both suddenly feeling horrible. Gumball glared forcefully, slowly backing up, "Fine then! I didn't realize I bothered you so much!"

_No. No! Not again! Don't leave me! Not like the others! _Marshall does the only thing he can think of, he leaps forward, knocking both of them to the ground. Gumball's face flushed as he squirmed under the vampire. Both of them are breathing hard, scared to death, and with teary eyes.

Gumball stops when he sees just how shaken the other is. "Marshall?"

"I'm sorry." The other mumbles, "I didn't mean to yell at you. I… I thought you were someone else."

"Oh. I see." Prince Gumball smiles softly, as relief washes over him. "Are you okay? You seem a bit…out of it."

Marshall hesitates, "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. I'm great, buttercup."

"Don't call me that." Gumball deadpans.

The two laugh slightly. Neither wanting to get up, but neither wanting to be this extremely close to the other, they shuffle awkwardly as Marshall finally stands up. The vampire holds out his hand to help up the gummy man. Gumball takes it thankfully.

"Do you want to come in?" Marshall asks, wanting his crush to stay longer.

"Sure." Gumball follows Marshall inside, still holding his hand. Marshall stops in front of him as soon as he steps in. "Wha- oh my!" Gumball stares at the mess before him. There's not one thing that isn't trashed. It looks as if a hurricane had appeared in the vampire's home.

Marshall covers his face in his hands, groaning loudly. He hides behind his hands, waiting for his crush's reaction. _He's probably horrified, the little OCD gummy-brat._

Gumball's mouth hang's open. "Did you do this?"

Marshall sighs, dropping his hands. Pulling a grin, sticking out his tongue, and throwing up a gang sign, he says, "Doesn't it rock? Works with the rockstar, bad boy image, right?"

Gumball rolls his eyes, smiling, "Honestly, how can anyone live like this?" He quietly told himself,_ 'when we're married, you _won't_ be trashing my home.'_

Marshall shrugs, saying quietly, "There's some bad days."

Slowly they make their way through the room. Marshall leads the Candy Kingdom's prince to his room upstairs. He waits as the prince climbs up the latter. "I've never been up here before." He says, as Marshall holds his hand to make sure the prince has his balance. They blush and instantly let go of the other's hand.

"Yeah, but there's something I want you to see." The vampire says quietly.

Gumball doesn't say anything as Marshall floats over to the wall adjacent to his bed. The gummy man follows, glancing at the older boy before scanning the wall. On the wall is tons of tiny pictures. Hundreds of them. There's a small hole where some look like they've fallen, but other than that, the wall is covered. All the pictures were from different angles.

Each picture has a different person on them. All of them smiling or laughing. Sometimes Marshall was in the picture too, which Gumball didn't know was possible. A vampire with crazy make-up, who plays the guitar, grinning at the camera. A shy mummy who tries hiding from the camera. A girl in dark, baggy clothes, who laughs at something behind the camera. One drawing, one playing, one eating, one posing in silly clothes. Each person looks so happy, and carefree. Men and women, of all ages, from many different regions and times. One picture is just of Marshall's bass.

"What's this?" Gumball finally asks, looking at each of the photos carefully.

"My loved ones." Marshall stares directly at the floor, his voice sad.

Gumball looks up at the vampire, "What happened to them?" Gumball regrets the question as soon as he says it. Of course they're dead. What a dumb question.

"G-gone." Marshall chokes out.

Gumball places a comforting hand on Marshall's shoulder, when a picture catches his eye, "Is that Fiona?"

Marshall looks up, chuckling slightly at her silly face. Her tongue's sticking out, fighting with Cake for who gets to be in the picture. "Yeah. You never know when she'll go, you know? She's always fighting and doing dangerous things… I had to take the picture when I could."

Gumball smiles fondly at the picture of their friend. "Yeah."

While Gumball points out his favorite pictures, Marshall tells their name and what they were doing the day he took the picture. The two crack jokes, enjoying the little trip down memory lane.

Marshall tells a story about him and one lover refusing to speak to each other for a week, simply to prove they could do it. "He was so talkative, and I bet he couldn't. He said I couldn't go a week without singing. I lost, but it was-"

"Why didn't you visit me last night?" Gumball asks without thinking. The story about ignoring one another got his mind focused on the reason he showed up to the vampire's home.

Marshall pauses, his smile fell. "My mom showed up last night. She pointed some things out to me that I already knew."

"And…?"

Marshall looks the other in the eye, "And I realized, just now actually while we were talking, I don't want to lose you." The vampire's hand finds the prince's.

"W-what?" Gumball's cheeks flush deliciously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Marshall pauses, to think it over slightly, "I mean this." The vampire leans in, pressing his lips to the prince's. Gumball slowly participates in the kiss. Their lips move in time with the other man's. Marshall's hand holds the back of Gumball's neck, keeping him in place. Remembering the candy prince has to breathe, Marshall pulls away slightly.

Gumball blushes in embarrassment, "Um… me too."

Marshall laughs, giving the other a quick kiss. Turning to a nearby cabinet, he pulls out a camera, "Then, do you mind? I'd love to add you to my wall." Gumball blushes, but nods.

The vampire swings his arm across Gumball's shoulders, holding the boy close. "Selfie!" He shouts, Gumball frowns at his childishness.

Marshall takes the picture.

"One more! On 'three'." Marshall says, "One, two," the vampire turns his head, kissing the other on the cheek, while taking the picture.

"Now just you." The vampire floats upside-down as Gumball tries to get over the shock of Marshall's surprise attack.

"Stupid, the picture will be upside-down!" Gumball laughs, still blushing.

Marshall takes the picture. He grins, "That one'll be cute." Flipping over, he takes another.

And another.

And another.

With each picture Marshall's and Gumball's smiles grow wider.

Their laughs grow louder.

Their love grows stronger.

Marshall thinks to himself,_ 'screw it if I get hurt in the end. I'll still have these pictures of you.'_

* * *

**The end!**

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are loved!**


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